The 30-foot mockups —four built with concrete and four made with other materials, like steel— cost about $20 million. Funding for the actual project, which is estimated to cost between $25 billion and $100 billion, has yet to be approved. Despite Trump’s campaign promise that Mexico would pay for the 1,900-mile wall, the Mexican government has repeatedly dismissed the idea and tensions between the two countries have only escalated in recent weeks.

Protests were held in San Diego, where the prototypes are displayed, and in Tijuana, the closest city on the Mexican side. Several residents in Tijuana told Reuters yesterday that the project is a waste of money and unlikely to curb border crossings.

HEADLINES FROM THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

NORTH AMERICA

Mexican presidential candidate José Antonio Meade has been the latest to urge his opponent and front-runner, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to participate in an unofficial televised debate prior to the three official debates organized by an electoral institute. López Obrador, who has a double-digit lead in the polls, has refused to participate in unofficial debates, stating that they could be biased. Instead, the left-wing candidate has suggested that his two main opponents, Meade and Ricardo Anaya, debate among themselves and settle their accusations of money laundering and embezzlement.

Snakes, iguanas, lizards and other animals have been found inside bottles of mezcal, a traditional spirit that usually contains a worm, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, prompting environmental regulators to set up a surveillance operation in the area yesterday. The case comes months after authorities seized almost 10,000 gallons of tainted alcohol from a company that supplied tourist areas like Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

THE ANDES

A former security chief and current leader of a leftist movement hoping to challenge Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was arrested yesterday during an event at a hotel in Caracas. Authorities said Miguel Rodríguez Torres, who served under the late President Hugo Chávez, planned armed actions and was conspiring against the constitution. Rodríguez is one of several critics of Maduro who have been barred from running in the upcoming elections.

Peru’s Supreme Court of Justice agreed yesterday to request the extradition of former president Alejandro Toledo from the United States. Two warrants for Toledo’s arrest were issued in 2017 after he was accused of accepting bribes from Odebrecht, a giant Brazilian company involved in a continent-wide corruption case.

SOUTHERN CONE

As Chile and Bolivia prepare to bring their century-old maritime dispute to the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands next week, Chilean Chancellor Roberto Ampuero assured yesterday that “not even one square centimeter of Chilean sovereignty” is up for bargain in the upcoming negotiations. The statement came after a Chilean senator discussed in a CNN interview the possibility of exchanging maritime sovereignty for territorial sovereignty with Bolivia. The dispute dates back to 1879, when land seizures in the War of the Pacific cut Bolivian territory off from the sea.

GOT NEWS? Send the editors tips, articles and other items for inclusion in Today in Latin America to tips@latindispatch.com.